'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1' Devours the Competition, Is Still a Box Office Disappointment

First, the positive for Katniss and her crew: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 easily dominated the box office over the weekend, earning $123 million to second place finisher Big Hero 6's $20 million (in its third week). That amount gives it the highest opening of the year, a title that it's almost certain to hold on to--the only movie that could conceivably challenge it would be The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, but the first two movies in that trilogy made $84.6 million and $73.6 million on their opening weekends, so it's not looking good for Bilbo.

Now, the negative: Mockingjay - Part 1 lost the fight against its predecessor Catching Fire, which had an opening weekend gross of $158 million. It was also trounced by the similarly titled The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 ($138.1 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 ($125.1 million). Less than enthusiastic reviews probably have something to do with it--Mockingjay - Part 1's Rotten Tomatoes rating is only 66% positive, compared to 89% for Catching Fire, with many critics and fans frustrated by the way the movie doesn't tell a whole story. Can we stop splitting book adaptations into two parts, please? I know it's more money for the studios, but things are getting out of hand.

Unless there's some sort of miracle--come through for us, Mr. Turner!--this will be the first year since 2010 without a $150 million opening weekend.

Last week's number one movie Dumb and Dumber To fell 62% to spot number four, probably because people heard it's awful. (What, they couldn't tell that from the trailers?) The number three spot was taken up by Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, while David Fincher's Gone Girl just won't quit--this marks its eighth week in the top five.

With all the other studios staying out of Mockingjay's way, there really weren't all that many other new movies hitting screens. Jarvis Cocker documentary Pulp: a Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets earned $22,000 on 36 screens, for a per-theater average of $611. Tommy Lee Jones' The Homesman expanded from 4 theaters to 33 and saw its box office more than triple. Foxcatcher and The Theory of Everything, both heavy awards contenders, continue to add both theaters and earnings. Interestingly, Guardians of the Galaxy--you know, that movie everybody liked that came out in August--added 91 theaters and saw its weekend box office climb from $292,787 (last weekend) to $471,000. Not too bad for a movie in its 18th week. You're doing well, grandpa.